Noise pollution

Modern society is noisy. It's hard to find any place without a genius who has a motor running. Air conditioners, dehumidifiers, heaters, cooling fans, constant radio and TV noise, and the chatter of humonkeys finishes out the hum, which is punctuated by passing jets, sirens, gunshots and the raucous staccato of sodomitic assault. What are the effects of noise on us? Alienation, ill health, and lack of restfulness.

"What we found is that there's an inverted-U relationship between noise level and creativity," Mehta said. "It turns out that around 70 decibels is the sweet spot. If you go beyond that, it's too loud, and the noise starts to negatively affect creativity. It's the Goldilocks principle -- the middle is just right."

Using background noise commonly found in consumers' lives, the researchers show that, as noise increases, so does one's level of distraction.

"An increased level of distraction makes you think 'out-of-the-box' -- what we call abstract thinking or abstract processing, which is a hallmark of increased creativity," Mehta said. "But when you start to go beyond that moderate level of noise what happens is that distraction becomes so huge that it really starts affecting the thought process. You really can't process information because the distraction is so pronounced. And that is what inhibits creativity.

I remember having an apartment in a little finnish city called Rauma (about 30 000 citizens) that was quiet as the woods at night. And it still was next to the University and shops so you could do your daily business with little effort. It was nice.

Noise pollution still remains a problem even here where there must be less chaotic than the main cities of Europe and northern America.

However, when you ask people where they go when they really need to get something done, you'll rarely hear them say it's the office.

If you ask, you'll usually get one of three kinds of responses: A place, a moving object, or a time.

They'll say their house, their back porch, an extra bedroom they've converted into a home office, a library, the coffee shop down the street, the basement. Or they'll say their car, or a train, or a plane -- basically, during their commute. Or they'll say really early in the morning, really late at night, or on the weekend. In other words, when no one else is around to bother them.

I don't blame people for not wanting to be at the office. I blame the office. The modern office has become an interruption factory. You can't get work done at work anymore.